J. C. Schütz
Encyclopedia
Johan Christher Schütz is a Swedish
singer, musician
and songwriter
. Since 2010 he uses the pseudonym
Peacebird, thus advocating pacifism
, direct democracy
, social equality
and human rights
.
Schütz has released three albums under his full name and one album as Peacebird. He is now composing songs for a crosscultural
musical
, and he has also written music for two Swedish short films and one from Czech Republic.
, Östergötland
, he found a guitar in a trash container at the age of seven, an experience that he says changed his life. Schütz has a documented interest in different cultures and he is fluent in Swedish, English and Portuguese and has visited Japan annually. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Portuguese from the Stockholm University
and wrote his degree paper about the political content in the song lyrics of Brazil
ian songwriter Chico Buarque
.
Brazilian singer Aline de Lima
has recorded a version of Schütz' song "Som om ingenting har hänt" for her 2008 album Açai, and Japanese singer Toki Asako
has recorded his song "Let the sunlight in" for her 2009 album Touch, which made the website Amazon Japan dub him a "genius singer/songwriter". Also in 2008, the almost 100-year-old Japanese musical theatre
company Takarazuka Revue
used his song Passion in a Japanese version in one of their shows, also released on CD and DVD.
was released in May 2004, with jazz
and bossanova
influenced pop
with reflecting lyrics in English, containing 13 songs all written by Schütz.
In a review, Swedish daily newspaper DN
called it "romantic bossa nova", while the Swedish world music magazine Lira called it a "summery bossa nova cocktail", also stating that the guitar playing of Schütz is "closer to Nick Drake
than Jobim
", and the reviewer was impressed by the album's "creative instrumentation
".
from November 2007 has a more contemporary and authentic Brazilian sound, with lyrics still in English and some small parts in Portuguese
and Swedish
. Blissa Nova also sees Schütz as a translator, as five of the album's 13 tracks are English translations of Brazilian and Swedish standards/classics: Eu Vim da Bahia by Gilberto Gil
, Pra Que Chorar by Baden Powell
/Vinicius de Moraes
, Tristeza (a duet with Brazilian singer Aline de Lima
) by Luiz Bonfá
, and Underbart Är Kort by Povel Ramel
and Den Lilla Bäcken by Allan Edwall
.
In their review, Swedish music magazine Groove called it "almost flawless" and stated that the first song "Plunge Into the Miracle goes from 0-100 in less than a second, and if all the songs had been in a similar style then this could well have challenged the title of the best Swedish album of the year in the genre".
Daily newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten
said that the album is "alleviating life with sweet sun and bossa grooves", made possible by the "beautiful melodies" and the "hive of rhythms".
, for the first time in Swedish. As a project, he decided to make the process of recording an album available on his blog
, and his record company published a 20-minute documentary on the internet, previously also available on youtube
, showing his work and also presents him performing acoustic live versions of some songs from the album.
C'est La Vie was released in Japan in December 2008 when Schütz also did his second Japan tour, and worldwide in May 2009. The Scandinavian release has all songs in Swedish, while the worldwide edition includes 5 songs in English.
Östgöta Correspondenten called it "well written" and "well played", while the magazine Lira put more attention to detail, noticing that "J.C. Schütz has got a lot on his mind, a kind of nicely laid-back observations of life, where a smile never is far away". They continued, "Here we see an artist more down-to-earth, even if the world music influences are still evident".
and the Peacebird website. Schütz plays all instruments on the recording.
Following the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami
, he released a second download single as Peacebird of the song Hold On Now on March 28 from his official Bandcamp
site. The song was written and released for the single purpose of donating all revenues to Red Cross Japan to support their work in the afflicted areas.
A full-length album with 9 songs, Peacebird
, was released on iTunes
on September 21, accompanied by a music video for the song Pickin' Up The Pieces. All songs are written by Schütz, and he also recorded Let The Sunlight In, previously released by Toki Asako
. Peacebird, released by Japanese
label Motel Bleu, has guest appearances by Swedish singer Lovisa Lindkvist, Japanese singer Chihiro Fujita, Japanese bass player Okii Reiji, Brazilian drummer Di Stéffano, and a number of Swedish jazz and funk
musicians. The songs show a more groovy and soulful side of Schütz with a majority of the songs being uptempo, and the sound more contemporary as Schütz was experimenting with drum loops for the first time. During every day of the first week of the release, the album's first track Slow Down was one of the three most played songs on Japanese FM radio stations in Tokyo
and Kansai
metropolitan regions
, and two days the most played song of all.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
singer, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. Since 2010 he uses the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Peacebird, thus advocating pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, direct democracy
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
, social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
.
Schütz has released three albums under his full name and one album as Peacebird. He is now composing songs for a crosscultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, and he has also written music for two Swedish short films and one from Czech Republic.
Biography
Raised outside the small town of MjölbyMjölby
Mjölby is a city and the seat of Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 11,927 inhabitants in 2005.Mjölby is located by the rivulet Svartån. The name "Mjölby" is derived from "Mölloby", which comes from mylna or mölna -- meaning "mill"...
, Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
, he found a guitar in a trash container at the age of seven, an experience that he says changed his life. Schütz has a documented interest in different cultures and he is fluent in Swedish, English and Portuguese and has visited Japan annually. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Portuguese from the Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
and wrote his degree paper about the political content in the song lyrics of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian songwriter Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
.
Brazilian singer Aline de Lima
Aline de Lima
Aline de Lima, born October 23, 1978 in Caxias, Brazil, is a Brazilian singer, writer and composer.- Biography :Aline de Lima's first CD, Arrebol, was produced by Brazilian singer and producer Vinicius Cantuária. It was released on the French independent record label Naïve, which has also released...
has recorded a version of Schütz' song "Som om ingenting har hänt" for her 2008 album Açai, and Japanese singer Toki Asako
Toki Asako
Asako Toki is a Japanese singer and composer, born in 1976. She is the daughter of a Japanese jazz saxophone player, and she was the singer for the pop band Cymbals between 1997-2003. She often sings covers, such as Beatles' "All you need is love", or songs written especially for her, such as "Let...
has recorded his song "Let the sunlight in" for her 2009 album Touch, which made the website Amazon Japan dub him a "genius singer/songwriter". Also in 2008, the almost 100-year-old Japanese musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
company Takarazuka Revue
Takarazuka Revue
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
used his song Passion in a Japanese version in one of their shows, also released on CD and DVD.
Passion
Schütz' debut CD PassionPassion (J. C. Schütz album)
Passion is the first album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, originally released in 2004 in Sweden and Japan.In 2009, Passion was released again, this time worldwide and including two bonus tracks, previously only available on the Japanese edition.The album was recorded between 2003...
was released in May 2004, with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and bossanova
Bossanova
Bossanova is the third album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in August 1990 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. All of Bossanovas original material was written by the band's frontman Black Francis; it...
influenced pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
with reflecting lyrics in English, containing 13 songs all written by Schütz.
In a review, Swedish daily newspaper DN
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
called it "romantic bossa nova", while the Swedish world music magazine Lira called it a "summery bossa nova cocktail", also stating that the guitar playing of Schütz is "closer to Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
than Jobim
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
", and the reviewer was impressed by the album's "creative instrumentation
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
".
Blissa Nova
His second full-length CD Blissa NovaBlissa Nova
Blissa Nova is the second album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, released in 2007.The title "Blissa Nova" is a play on the word bliss and the music style bossa nova....
from November 2007 has a more contemporary and authentic Brazilian sound, with lyrics still in English and some small parts in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
. Blissa Nova also sees Schütz as a translator, as five of the album's 13 tracks are English translations of Brazilian and Swedish standards/classics: Eu Vim da Bahia by Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, Pra Que Chorar by Baden Powell
Baden Powell de Aquino
Baden Powell de Aquino usually known simply as Baden Powell, was one of the greatest Brazilian guitarists. He explored the instrument to its utmost limits, playing it in a distinctive, unique manner, incorporating virtuoso classical techniques together with popular harmony and swing...
/Vinicius de Moraes
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinicius de Moraes , known as Vinicius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinho , was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Son of Lydia Cruz de Moraes and Clodoaldo Pereira da Silva Moraes, he was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music...
, Tristeza (a duet with Brazilian singer Aline de Lima
Aline de Lima
Aline de Lima, born October 23, 1978 in Caxias, Brazil, is a Brazilian singer, writer and composer.- Biography :Aline de Lima's first CD, Arrebol, was produced by Brazilian singer and producer Vinicius Cantuária. It was released on the French independent record label Naïve, which has also released...
) by Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.-Biography:...
, and Underbart Är Kort by Povel Ramel
Povel Ramel
Baron Povel Karl Henric Ramel was a Swedish entertainer. Ramel was a singer, pianist, vaudeville artist, author and a novelty song composer. His style was characterized by imaginative wit, both verbal and musical...
and Den Lilla Bäcken by Allan Edwall
Allan Edwall
Johan Allan Edwall was a Swedish actor, director, author, composer and singer, best-known outside Sweden for the small roles he played in some of Ingmar Bergman's films such as Fanny and Alexander...
.
In their review, Swedish music magazine Groove called it "almost flawless" and stated that the first song "Plunge Into the Miracle goes from 0-100 in less than a second, and if all the songs had been in a similar style then this could well have challenged the title of the best Swedish album of the year in the genre".
Daily newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten
Östgöta Correspondenten
Östgöta Correspondenten is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Linköping and has a circulation of about 60 000 copies every day. The stated position of the editorial page is liberal conservative. Östgöta Correspondenten was first published in 1838...
said that the album is "alleviating life with sweet sun and bossa grooves", made possible by the "beautiful melodies" and the "hive of rhythms".
C'est La Vie
During the winter/spring of 2008 he started recording his third album C'est La VieC'est La Vie (J. C. Schütz album)
C'est La Vie is the third studio album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, released in December 2008 in Japan, and in May 2009 worldwide.All songs are written, arranged and produced by J. C. Schütz...
, for the first time in Swedish. As a project, he decided to make the process of recording an album available on his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, and his record company published a 20-minute documentary on the internet, previously also available on youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, showing his work and also presents him performing acoustic live versions of some songs from the album.
C'est La Vie was released in Japan in December 2008 when Schütz also did his second Japan tour, and worldwide in May 2009. The Scandinavian release has all songs in Swedish, while the worldwide edition includes 5 songs in English.
Östgöta Correspondenten called it "well written" and "well played", while the magazine Lira put more attention to detail, noticing that "J.C. Schütz has got a lot on his mind, a kind of nicely laid-back observations of life, where a smile never is far away". They continued, "Here we see an artist more down-to-earth, even if the world music influences are still evident".
Peacebird
In 2010 Schütz started writing songs for a fourth album, and announced it would be released under the pseudonym Peacebird. On February 5, 2011, Peacebird released a free download single to support the protests for democracy in Egypt and other countries in northern Africa. The song called Peace! (Give the People the Power Back), was made available through youtubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and the Peacebird website. Schütz plays all instruments on the recording.
Following the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
, he released a second download single as Peacebird of the song Hold On Now on March 28 from his official Bandcamp
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
site. The song was written and released for the single purpose of donating all revenues to Red Cross Japan to support their work in the afflicted areas.
A full-length album with 9 songs, Peacebird
Peacebird (Peacebird album)
Peacebird is the first album by Peacebird, a pseudonym of Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz. Schütz has previously released three albums in his own name...
, was released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on September 21, accompanied by a music video for the song Pickin' Up The Pieces. All songs are written by Schütz, and he also recorded Let The Sunlight In, previously released by Toki Asako
Toki Asako
Asako Toki is a Japanese singer and composer, born in 1976. She is the daughter of a Japanese jazz saxophone player, and she was the singer for the pop band Cymbals between 1997-2003. She often sings covers, such as Beatles' "All you need is love", or songs written especially for her, such as "Let...
. Peacebird, released by Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
label Motel Bleu, has guest appearances by Swedish singer Lovisa Lindkvist, Japanese singer Chihiro Fujita, Japanese bass player Okii Reiji, Brazilian drummer Di Stéffano, and a number of Swedish jazz and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
musicians. The songs show a more groovy and soulful side of Schütz with a majority of the songs being uptempo, and the sound more contemporary as Schütz was experimenting with drum loops for the first time. During every day of the first week of the release, the album's first track Slow Down was one of the three most played songs on Japanese FM radio stations in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Kansai
Kansai
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
metropolitan regions
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
, and two days the most played song of all.
Albums
- PeacebirdPeacebird (Peacebird album)Peacebird is the first album by Peacebird, a pseudonym of Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz. Schütz has previously released three albums in his own name...
(2011) - C'est La VieC'est La Vie (J. C. Schütz album)C'est La Vie is the third studio album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, released in December 2008 in Japan, and in May 2009 worldwide.All songs are written, arranged and produced by J. C. Schütz...
(2009) - Blissa NovaBlissa NovaBlissa Nova is the second album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, released in 2007.The title "Blissa Nova" is a play on the word bliss and the music style bossa nova....
(2007) - PassionPassion (J. C. Schütz album)Passion is the first album by Swedish singer and songwriter J. C. Schütz, originally released in 2004 in Sweden and Japan.In 2009, Passion was released again, this time worldwide and including two bonus tracks, previously only available on the Japanese edition.The album was recorded between 2003...
(2004)
Singles
- Hold On Now, as Peacebird (2011)
- Peace! (Give the People the Power Back), as Peacebird (2011)
- Se solen gå upp / Dröm (2009)